Tikvah
by Zoe tabbycat
Summary: 4 years after Tony resigned from NCIS, he reappeared in DC with Tali and Ziva by his side. However, all is not well, and they are on the run from someone that would stop at nothing to get to them. Just what exactly happened in the past 4 years? Post 13x24 "Family First".
1. Chapter 1

Ch. 1

Opening the door, Abby thanked the young Marine on the examination bed before stepping out, glad the evidence collecting process had gone smoothly. Even after 15 years on the job, Abby rarely had to leave the comforts of her lab to collect evidence, but with an abnormally large case load this week, she had agreed to go take samples from the marine's injuries for Ducky as he already had four autopsies lined up for him in the morgue.

Stepping out into the hallway, Abby's eyes narrowed as she spotted a man standing in front of the vending machine at the end of the hall. Something about this man was very familiar and she was sure she knew him from somewhere.

Walking towards him, the features of his face became clearer and clearer until there was no mistaking who he was. With that, Abby picked up her pace, excitement bubbling up inside her.

'Tony!' Abby squealed as she all but tackled him. It had been around four years since she had last seen him, but there was no mistaking his eyes. After he had left NCIS, they had gotten an occasional postcard from him, telling them that both he and Tali were doing fine in Israel, but there was nothing else. She had missed him desperately.

* * *

Tony almost jumped out of his skin when he heard someone running towards him, but relaxed as the familiarity of the situation settled in almost immediately. He only just had time to brace himself for the hug that was coming his way before he found Abby clinging on to him. He gave a small chuckle and embraced the woman who was basically his younger sister.

All of a sudden, Abby pulled back and gave him a concerned look. It had just occurred to her that they were both standing in the hallway of a hospital, and that people generally did not appear in the hospital without a good reason.

'Tony, what are you doing here? Are you alright? Is Tali alright? When did you get back?' Abby asked in rapid succession, the words tumbling out of her mouth almost unable to keep up with the questions racing in her mind.

'I'm fine, Abbs, and so is Tali. There's nothing wrong with either of us,' Tony reassured her with a small smile, but the smile did not reach his eyes. In fact, as Abby took a closer look at him, she realized his eyes were clouded with worry.

'Don't you trust me?' Abby pressed, her brow furrowed.

'Of course I do. What makes you think I don't?' Tony answered too quickly, unwilling to meet Abby's inquisitive eyes.

'Tony, I've known you for a very long time. I know when you're not telling me the whole truth,' Abby told him seriously, her hands on her hips, and Tony sighed. He should have known better than to try and tell Abby that everything was fine when clearly things were not.

Taking a hurried glance around the hallway, Tony pulled Abby into a patient's room and closed the door behind them. The sound of the door closing woke a little girl of about six years old, who was curled up on a cot squeezed in between the chair and the hospital bed. She rubbed her eyes sleepily and stretched out her arms for Tony. He was by her side immediately, picking her up and carrying her over to Abby.

'Say hello to aunt Abby, Tali,' Tony told her, and Tali gave her a timid wave obediently.

'Oh my god, Tali, you've gotten so big!' Abby cooed at the little girl, and Tali gave her a small, shy smile before burying her face into Tony's jacket.

Entranced by the little girl who had stolen her heart all those years ago, Abby gave a chuckle as said little girl let out a great yawn that coaxed tears from her eyes.

'Come on, Tali, time for you to have a nap,' Tony said, giving her a small kiss on the cheek before setting her back on the ground.

'I'm not sleepy,' she complained with a frown, stubbornly refusing to fall asleep just yet.

'If you don't sleep, Tali bear, how would you have the energy to play later?' Upon hearing this reasonable argument, Tali nodded reluctantly.

Walking back to the centre of the room, Tali climbed onto her cot and leaned over the bars to give the inhabitant of the hospital bed a kiss on the cheek. It was only then Abby realized that she had never actually looked to see who it was that had both Tony and Tali staying in the hospital.

'Ani ohevet otakh, ima,' Tali murmured, and she fell asleep almost instantly when her head hit her pillow.

Abby's feet were rooted to the ground upon hearing what Tali had called the patient in the bed. She looked at Tony incredulously and he nodded his head in confirmation.

Taking a deep breath, she forced her legs to move and soon found herself staring at the body of a woman, who appeared to be more tubes than human. Her breath caught in her throat. The only word that Abby could think of to describe the woman was fragile, but surely this could not be true. Years ago, she had been the strongest person that Abby had ever known, and no one in their right mind would have used such a word to describe her.

'B-but, she's dead, Tony. Orli, she told us,' Abby choked out. 'Ziva, she's supposed to be dead.'

'She didn't die that day, Abby. She's still here with us,' Tony said quietly. Abby stared at him, almost accusingly.

'Tony, what exactly happened in these past four years?' Abby demanded.

* * *

 _A/N: I hope you all like this story. This is my first time writing for NCIS, so I'm going to need lots of help from you all in order to improve my writing for this story and therefore, PLEASE REVIEW!_

 _Many thanks to Bianca tabbycat for agreeing to beta this for me._

 _Zoe tabbycat_


	2. Chapter 2

Tikvah Ch. 2

'I can't say now, Abbs,' Tony told her with a grimace. Abby spluttered indignantly in response before finding her words again. 'But you used to tell me everything,' she grumbled and folded her arms, trying to disguise the hurt she was feeling due to not being trusted.

'I didn't mean it that way. There are certain… _details_ that Tali isn't exactly aware of, and I'd like to keep it that way,' Tony rephrased, lowering his voice while glancing at his daughter's sleeping form, from which originated a series of soft snores. 'It'll only upset her if she finds out.'

'She's sleeping right now, and besides she probably won't even understand,' Abby argued. Tony grinned ruefully.

'Don't let her innocent look fool you. She may look tiny and completely clueless, but she understands a lot more than what people will give her credit for,' Tony almost bragged with a slightly proud smirk.

Abby sighed and dropped the subject for now, despite her burning curiosity. She knew he wouldn't budge on the matter if Tali was the matter of concern. 'Does Gibbs know you're back?' Abby asked him, changing the direction of her questioning.

'No,' Tony answered meekly after a short pause, and Abby raised her eyebrows so high that they almost disappeared under her black fringe.

'What do you mean by no? Tony, call him,' Abby instructed, her voice stern and unyielding.

'No one was supposed to know that we're back in DC for now,' Tony told her, hoping that she would drop this subject like she had the previous one, but Abby was having none of it.

'Well, too late for that. I already found out, and unless you want me to tell him first, you are going to call him right now,' Abby said firmly, her dark eyes flashing at Tony, daring him to challenge her.

Tony had been on the other side of this expression too many times in the past to not know what it meant, and therefore he knew better than to disobey her. Grumbling under his breath, he pulled out a disposable cell phone from his pocket and his fingers danced across the keypad without him having to think consciously about it. He had dialled the same number too many times in the past and his fingers had long since committed the pattern to memory.

'Gibbs,' the voice on the other end barked, and Tony could not help but notice the speaker sounded older and wearier than he remembered.

'Boss, it's me,' Tony greeted automatically. Upon hearing the familiar voice, he was almost taken aback by how much he had missed the short and abrupt words of wisdom from his boss, and there was so much he wanted to tell and ask and discuss with him that he just did not know where to start.

'Are you planning on telling me why you called, or am I supposed to guess, DiNozzo?' Gibbs asked him drily, but Tony could hear the undertone of warmth and relief in his voice.

'I… We're back in DC,' Tony burst out, fumbling over the sentence. He turned his back on Abby to avoid her intense stare.

'Well, then I expect to see the little girl tonight,' Gibbs said calmly. To his credit, he did not sound the least bit surprised to hear the news.

Tony struggled to find a way to break the news gently. 'Um… boss, it's not just Tali and I,' Tony finally said, and he could practically hear Gibbs rolling his eyes on the other end of the line.

'Tony, first of all, I'm not your boss anymore. Secondly, stop asking me to guess around. Who else is with you?'

'Just felt natural to call you boss, I guess. Old habits die hard.' Tony subtly tried to delay answering the question, but Gibbs was having none of that.

'I will not ask again, DiNozzo. Who else is with you and Tali?' Gibbs repeated his question. Tony had a strong suspicion that he already had a pretty good idea of who it was, and he was willing to bet that his boss's guess was accurate. Gibb's famous gut instinct was never wrong.

Glancing at the fragile figure on the hospital bed, Tony hesitated before answering the question.

'Ziva's with us, boss.'

'You damn well better tell me where the hell you are now,' Gibbs growled into the phone. Background noise in the form of hurried footsteps and the creaking of wooden stairs filtered through the phone. Tony almost smiled, deducing that Gibbs must have been hiding out in the basement again, working on his boat.

'We're at DC Memorial, Room 302,' Tony quickly relayed to him, and he heard the beeping of the dial tone as the line went dead. Placing the phone back into his pocket, he became aware of Abby's eyes, burning a hole in the back of his head.

'I'm guessing he'll be here soon,' Tony told her with a shrug, and Abby nodded, satisfied.

* * *

Walking into the hospital building with a large cup of coffee, Gibbs did not even glance at the nurses' station as he headed straight for an open elevator. He jabbed at the buttons vigorously and stood glaring at the doors until they had fully closed and the elevator started to ascend upwards at a snail's pace, as if decades of his life had been spent waiting for the elevator to get moving.

Finally reaching the door to room 302, Gibbs looked inside through the narrow pane of glass and felt his heart squeeze yet relax at the same time. He could clearly see Abby gesturing wildly as she talked to him, as well as a little girl sleeping peacefully in a small cot. There was also someone lying on the hospital bed, intubated and likely heavily sedated to boot. Although he could not see the occupant's face, it was not hard to hazard a guess as to who it was.

He let himself into the room as quietly as possible, yet Abby and Tony's head whipped towards his direction almost immediately. Gibbs nodded at both of them and gave Tony a once-over before nodding to himself once more, seemingly satisfied that he hadn't done too much damage to himself in the years he had been away. His gaze then shifted to the little one, sleeping and snoring like there was no tomorrow. A small smile found its way to his lips as he gently stroked the wild curly hair on the girl's head, before resting his gaze on the woman lying on the bed.

His breath hitched as he took in her appearance. For many years, few things had managed to shock Leroy Jethro Gibbs, but seeing the supposedly dead woman he thought of as his daughter, _alive_ , seemed to have done just that.

He stood there, looking at her silently for a few minutes with a stony face before turning around to look at Tony.

'Tell me that the damn _bastard_ who did this to her got what he deserved.' Gibbs's voice was completely steady and his face gave nothing away, but if one listened carefully, the hint of desperation that underlined his statement was crystal clear.

'I wish I can, boss, but I can't,' Tony shook his head, anger and frustration evident in his tone. 'He's still out there.'

* * *

 _A/N: Wow! I was not expecting this much support for my first chapter! A huge thank you to everyone who has read, followed or favourited the story. You guys are absolutely amazing._

 _If all goes to plan, this story will be updated every Tuesday and Friday, so I hope that you will all continue to enjoy this story._

 _As usual, many thanks to **Bianca tabbycat** for betaing this chapter for me._

 _Zoe tabbycat_


	3. Chapter 3

Tikvah Ch.3

'Start talking,' Gibbs said, handing Tony a mason jar filled with bourbon. Tony caught a whiff of the strong liquor and shook his head, grimacing as he handed the jar back.

'No thanks, boss,' Tony declined. 'I haven't touched this stuff for far too long.'

He took a look around the basement as Gibbs took a swig from the jar. As he stood right there, Tony could almost fool himself into believing that the last few years had not happened, that he had never found out about Tali, that he thought Ziva was still safe in Israel, because everything looked exactly the same. Everything except for the boat.

Tony sighed as he casted his eyes to the floor. He knew he could not change the way things had turned out, but a small part of him could not help but yearn for simpler, happier times.

Attempting to rid himself of the tinges of nostalgia, Tony approached the boat and admired the skilled craftsmanship. 'Building a new boat again?' he asked Gibbs cheekily, starting to circle around the almost completed vessel.

'Yeah,' Gibbs answered shortly. Tony continued his one-man tour of the boat until he spotted the name carved in elegant script.

'Ziva,' Tony breathed. He ran his hand over the indents in the smooth wood of the hull, momentarily overtaken by surprise.

'Gotta keep track of all the women that left me behind, DiNozzo,' Gibbs explained quietly, having joined him as he stared in silence. 'And stop changing the subject. Tali's too busy watching those damn yellow things bounce around to pay us much attention.'

As if on cue, a loud jumble of senseless gibberish from the television in the living room echoed down the stairway, followed by Tali's high-pitched giggles of amusement.

'Minions, boss. The yellow bouncing things are called minions,' Tony corrected, grinning at the obvious exasperation on Gibbs' face. He looked to be questioning the sanity of his decision from several hours ago, when he all but demanded that Tony and Tali stay at his house that night. Abby had sided with Gibbs, claiming that it could not possibly be good for Tali to stay in the hospital for so long. Tony had then tried to turn down the offer for himself, citing his worry for Ziva, but his excuse was made invalid after her doctor repeatedly assured him of her stable condition.

There had been no use arguing after that; after the doctor promised that the hospital would call should there be any changes in Ziva's condition, Gibbs had taken them both home promptly.

Once there, Tali had been more than happy to run freely in Gibbs' house, and she jabbered away at him in her unique blend of Hebrew and English. Although she did not remember seeing him, she seemed to know him well enough from her Ima's and Aba's stories. She was perfectly content to be cuddled and spoiled by him.

A loud crash sounded from the television speakers right then, and the giggling attack started back up.

'Do I look like I care what those things are called?' Gibbs asked rhetorically, raising an eyebrow. 'Right now, I care about what happened to Ziva.'

'It's a long story,' Tony sobered, burying his face in his hands. 'I don't even know where to begin.'

'Just start from when you and Tali left DC,' Gibbs suggested gruffly, sensing his turmoil. He manoeuvred Tony over to the couch and sat opposite to him. 'How did you manage to find Ziva anyway?'

* * *

 _The hot Israeli sunshine shone upon them the moment they stepped out of the Ben Gurion International Airport. Holding his daughter's hand tightly, Tony stared down at her as a small smile found its way to her lips, as if there was nothing better than feeling the sun shining on her face._

 _Having managed to flag down a cab, Tony sat Tali on his lap as they headed for their hotel. Tali was completely mesmerized by the scenery that flashed by the window, but Tony was transfixed by the small child, who resembled her mother so strongly that it took his breath away sometimes. He still could not believe that Ziva and he had brought a daughter into existence, and that now, this little girl was completely dependent on him. As he had told Gibbs back in DC, he had never been someone's everything before, and the very thought of that terrified him. What if he failed her? What if he simply could not be enough for her? What if she only wanted her mother?_

 _Even with those worries, his mind eventually drifted back to Ziva. There was no doubt in his mind that he loved her, and that there was little chance of his feelings changing anytime soon. He began to feel the sharp prickling of tears at the corners of his eyes at those thoughts, and he hastily brushed them away, not wanting to upset his daughter._

 _Arriving at the hotel, Tony settled down quickly and gave Tali her stuffed dog from her go bag. After experimentation, he had quickly figured out it was her favourite toy, and heaven forbid that she went anywhere without it. He then pulled out the picture of him and Ziva in Paris and placed it on the nightstand._

 _Having planned yet another long journey to Ziva's home in Be'er Sheva, Tony turned around to pick Tali up before he realized she had already fallen fast asleep on the bed, with her arms locked tight around the stuffed dog and its long floppy ear held loosely in her mouth. The long plane journey had completely exhausted the little girl. Shaking his head, Tony resolved to leave that trip for tomorrow instead._

 _Several hours later, he found himself in the throes of regret. Having allowed Tali to nap for so long and eat candy worth roughly several tablespoons of sugar afterwards, she was still filled with energy well into the night. Tali bounded around the room restlessly before turning her attention to the framed photo sitting on the nightstand. Picking it up, she ran to an exhausted Tony with it._

' _Ima,' Tali proclaimed proudly, pointing happily at Ziva in the picture. Despite himself, Tony gave her a melancholy smile._

' _Yes, Tali, that's your Ima,' Tony told her, a twinge of sorrow in his words._

' _Aba,' Tali exclaimed again, this time pointing at picture Tony. She grinned brilliantly up at him._

 _Tony's heart constricted at those words. He had no idea that two simple syllables could make him feel this way, and yet, when Tali uttered those two syllables, he could feel his heart swell with pride._

' _That's right, Tali. That's your Ima, and that's your Aba,' Tony told her, pointing at Ziva and himself in the picture respectively._

 _Pleased with herself, Tali hugged the picture close to her chest as she bounced around the room._

 _Worried that she would drop the frame accidentally and hurt herself, Tony caught Tali gently and pried the photo out of her grasp. Tali looked at him accusingly, and big, fat tears began rolling down her cheeks at being parted with her Ima in the picture, the closest she had to the real thing._

' _Shh, Tali. I'm just going to take it out of the frame and give you the photo. I don't want you cutting yourself on the glass if it falls,' Tony soothed her, not really knowing whether she understood any of what he had just said. After all, most of what little she had said to him was in Hebrew._

 _Tali's small fingers closed around the picture as soon as he handed it back to her. As the tears stopped and she smiled again, Tony suddenly saw the smudged black ink on the back of the photo. Squatting down until he was Tali's height, he squinted at the blurred words until he could finally make out what it said._

' _I'll be right here waiting for you.'_

* * *

 _A/N: Yup, in my happy world, Ziva is most definitely alive and nobody is gonna convince me otherwise!_

 _As usual, PLEASE REVIEW!_

 _Zoe tabbycat_


	4. Chapter 4

Tikvah Ch.4

'I want Ima,' Tali insisted as Tony tucked her into bed. They were in the guest room at Gibbs' house and it was already way past her usual bedtime, but with the long nap that she took in the hospital earlier that day, Tony figured she could stay up a little later than usual.

'I know, Tali bear, but Ima needs to rest, remember? Ima needs to sleep so she'll get better soon, and then she can play with you,' Tony explained patiently, attempting to coax her to lie down. It came as no surprise to Gibbs, who was spying on the duo from the doorway, when Tali crossed her arms stubbornly across her chest and gave Tony a look that could rival her mother's. It seemed that Ziva's daughter had inherited her stubborn streak, along with the knowledge of which facial expression to make when Tony did something completely inappropriate or stupid.

'But I want Ima, Aba. I haven't told Ima that I love her tonight,' Tali pleaded, clutching onto her father's arm. Her brown eyes looked earnestly into his. 'How can Ima sleep without knowing I love her?'

Visiting hours had passed away long ago, and Tony was not too keen on sneaking his obviously exhausted daughter into the hospital anytime soon, especially at this late hour. 'How about this, Tali. Aunt Abby should still be at the hospital. I'll call her now, and she can hold the phone to Ima's ear so you can tell her that you love her, okay?' Tony proposed, hoping Tali would accept this compromise.

Tali thought over this suggestion very carefully, tilting her head to one side. 'You promise we'll see her tomorrow?' she asked worriedly. 'I promise,' Tony replied, and she nodded eagerly, satisfied.

Pulling out his phone, Tony dialled Abby's number, crossing his fingers that she had yet to return home from the hospital. He didn't have to wait long until Abby picked up the phone.

'Abby, it's me. Are you still with Ziva?" She responded in the affirmative, and Tony quickly made his request. 'Can you put the phone next to her so Tali can say goodnight?'

A soft squeal resonated from the other end of the line. 'That is so _adorable_. Here, hang on.' There was a rustling sound as the phone was set down on the sheets. 'You're on speakerphone now, guys.'

'Alright, Tali, you can say goodnight to Ima,' Tony smiled, and Tali grabbed the phone happily, her past grumpiness forgotten.

'Laila Tov, Ima. Ani ohevet otakh,' Tali sang into the phone and smacked her lips together loudly for a kissing sound. She handed the phone back to Tony before snuggling under the covers obediently. 'Night night, Aba.'

'Goodnight, my little Tali.' Tony turned off the bedroom light, whispering a hurried thanks to Abby before he ended the call. He turned back to the bed, giving Tali a quick kiss on the forehead before heading out of the room.

''m not little anymore,' Tali murmured in protest, but she was asleep before Tony could tease her further.

Joining Gibbs in the hallway, Tony closed the door until there was just a small crack, which a sliver of light shone through into the bedroom. Tali had a tendency to wake up in the middle of the night, and she would panic if she found herself in complete darkness.

Once the door was appropriately positioned, the two men walked back down the stairs into the living room where Tony collapsed onto the couch.

'Is it normal for her to sleep that much?' Gibbs wanted to know. Tony looked up as if he could see his sleeping daughter through the roof before answering. 'She didn't exactly get a lot of sleep last week. I guess it's finally catching up with her.'

Gibbs nodded, glad that the little girl was fine. 'Alright, get on with telling me what happened with Ziva,' Gibbs prompted Tony, no longer able to keep his curiosity at bay.

'Where was I? Ah, yes, I found the writing on the photo.'

* * *

 _When Tony saw the words and the familiar handwriting, all he wanted to do was jump straight on to a flight to Paris, but he knew that was not a viable option. He was no longer just responsible for himself; he was also responsible for the precious little girl who was now running her chubby little fingers gently across the glossy picture, her eyes fixed on the widely grinning couple, permanently captured in a private moment of happiness._

 _And if the previous 12-hour flight from DC to Tel Aviv was anything to go by, his little girl wouldn't be too enthusiastic about getting back on a plane less than a day after getting off one._

 _After booking a flight for the next morning, Tony began packing their belongings. Tali, momentarily distracted by the noise, looked up from the picture and frowned. She glared at her father and the suitcases, pointing at the latter and muttering in Hebrew sulkily. Tony may not understand Hebrew, but he could tell from her expression and the tone she was using that she was not pleased that everything was going back into the suitcase so soon._

' _I'm sorry, Tali, but you have to speak in English if you want me to understand. Aba doesn't speak Hebrew,' Tony sighed, not expecting her to understand anything he had just said. To his surprise, her head popped up at the word 'English' as if in recognition. Tali quieted down at once and her eyes looked up to the ceiling in deep thought._

 _After a pause, she tried again. 'No fly. Tali no like fly,' Tali intonated slowly yet precisely, trying to get used to the foreign syllables rolling off her tongue._

 _Tony raised his eyebrows. So his little girl could speak English, albeit with limited vocabulary and grammar. Just exactly how much did Ziva tell her about her father? Leaning forward, he wrapped Tali's small frame in his arms._

' _I know, Tali, and I'm sorry. But do you want to try and find Ima?' Tony enunciated each word, hoping his little girl was smart enough to pick up on what he was saying._

' _Find Ima,' Tali repeated after him, nodding her head vigorously in agreement. Picking up her little backpack in one hand and retrieving her stuffed dog in the other, she started heading for the door, not even looking back to see if Tony was following her. Stifling a chuckle at her headstrongness, he pulled her back towards the bed._

' _Whoa there, little miss, not so fast. For now, all we have to do is eat something and sleep. We'll go find Ima first thing tomorrow, okay? Tony outlined their schedule, and Tali nodded again._

' _Find Ima tomorrow, food now,' Tali summarized solemnly, rubbing her stomach and looking up at him beseechingly. She must have been hungry; they had skipped dinner earlier in the evening due to jet-lag._

' _Yes, little one. Food now,' Tony grinned, amused by her little antics._

' _Pizza?' Tali suggested, sitting down on the loveseat in the room. Tony could not help but let out a small laugh. Of course the most fluent English word his daughter could say was 'pizza'._

' _Alright, Tali, pizza it is,' Tony agreed, searching online for a pizza delivery service._

 _Morning came quickly and when Tony woke up, he could have sworn that the bed he was sleeping on had turned into a boat at sea, tossing him around his bunk, but surely that was just his imagination. His eyes began slipping shut again until the bouncing intensified, shaking him wide awake. He sat up immediately, and was faced with his daughter jumping up and down on the bed as if it were her own personal trampoline._

' _Boker tov, Aba. Find Ima,' Tali greeted him impatiently before planting a small kiss on his cheek and scooting off the bed to search for her backpack. Groaning at his interrupted sleep, Tony glanced at the digital clock on the nightstand. It was 05:00. Of all things Tali could have inherited from Ziva, she just had to have the need to start work at 05:00…_

 _By the time Tony got himself and Tali ready and the two of them spent some time watching early morning cartoons, it was already time to get a move on if they did not want to miss their flight. Tali was more than ready to leave the room and she dashed out, leaving Tony responsible for pulling along their luggage while marvelling at how their daughter was so much like Ziva._

 _The flight was long and uneventful, and in little Tali's opinion, it would be too soon if she ever had to go on the plane again. She could not understand why anyone would want to fly in what was basically a glorified metal tube. How could their ears not hurt?_

 _Once they landed, Tony quickly dropped off their luggage in their hotel room in Paris before hurrying out the door again, Tali and her dog sitting contently in the crook of his arm. It had been quite a few years since he had last been to Paris with Ziva, but his legs seemed to have a memory of their own. Before he knew it, he found himself standing right outside the café pictured in the photo that Tali had liked so much._

 _Cautiously, Tony pushed open the glass door of the café, smiling at the owner of the café politely before sweeping the booths for anyone that looked familiar. There was no one there, except for a teenage couple who were flirting with each other in a dim corner._

 _Swallowing his disappointment, he ordered a pancake set meal off the children's menu for Tali and a larger plate of the same for himself. When their food arrived, both of them were glad to distract themselves with their food, with Tony teaching Tali how to smear butter and drizzle maple syrup over the fluffy pancakes. The minute Tony looked away to stir milk and sugar into his coffee, Tali got so carried away that she drowned her pancakes in all the remaining syrup, leaving none for him._

 _Tony could only smile fondly at her before digging into his own syrup-free pancakes, dipping the occasional bite into the sugary puddle on Tali's plate. Halfway through his meal, he suddenly stopped, his fork frozen midway between the plate and his mouth._

 _It was as if he could sense her presence._

 _Tali had already abandoned her plastic cutlery and she had her arms outstretched, visibly frustrated at being confined in her high chair. Tony could feel her as she moved closer and closer, until she was just a few inches behind him. Completely overwhelmed with emotions, he turned around to meet her eyes. Wonder and relief and joy flooded his veins. Orli had lied to him. He was right. She was alive._

' _Ziva?' Tony croaked out when he had finally managed to find his voice again._

' _Tony. I've missed you and Tali so much,' Ziva smiled, her eyes shining with the sheen of unshed tears. Easily freeing Tali from her chair, she sat down next to him. Looking at the trio from a stranger's perspective, it would have seemed like she had been there all along._

 _Tony pulled her and Tali into his embrace at once, hugging them so fiercely that it almost hurt. Ziva could feel tears beginning to roll down her cheeks and soak into his shirt as his thumb ran gently across the white bandage on her forehead and his other firmly at the small of her back, as if to convince himself that she really was here, alive and safe, in his arms. Breathing in the scent of her partner and her child, Ziva knew without a doubt that she was finally home._

* * *

 _A/N: Yayyy! All three of them are together again and now, all is well... Or is it?_

 _PLEASE REVIEW!_

 _Zoe tabbycat_


	5. Chapter 5

Tikvah Ch.5

Gibbs chuckled to himself as he watched Tony attempt to wrestle the bottle of maple syrup out of his daughter's hands, realizing that Tony had not been exaggerating at all yesterday when he joked about how Tali preferred to have her pancakes smothered in dripping sugar. From his angle, leaning against the kitchen countertop, all he could see were a few pancake islands in an ocean of syrup.

'Tali, that's more than enough for you,' Tony scolded her lightly, having finally won the tug-of-war for the precious jar of maple syrup. He held the bottle behind his back in a vain attempt to keep it out of her sight, hoping its absence would make his daughter forget about it.

Tali, undeceived, only looked up at him and blinked her large brown eyes innocently. Gibbs almost laughed out loud; the little girl must had picked up on how to use those puppy-dog eyes from one of her cartoons.

'More, please?' Her lips formed a little pout, and Gibbs could see the last fragments of Tony's resolve crumble around him. He shook his head and smirked, for it was easy to tell that Tali had her father wrapped around her little finger. Before Tony could relent and douse the pancakes in even more syrup, Gibbs plucked the bottle out of his hands and set it high up on the refrigerator, giving his former protégé a head slap in the process.

Tony let out a small whimper and rubbed the back of his head gingerly. 'Thanks, boss. I actually kind of missed that,' he confessed with a rueful smile. Tali, knowing she was defeated, gave a little harrumph of frustration and turned her attention back to her breakfast.

Gibbs gave a small grin at the sight. 'She's so much like her mother,' he said. Tony hummed wistfully in agreement.

'You taking her back to the hospital straight after breakfast?' Gibbs asked, and Tony shook his head. 'She's been cooped up for so long. I think it'd be nice for her if she can get some fresh air at the park for a little bit.'

'I'm coming with you,' Gibbs stated, and Tony stared at him in shock. 'But boss, NCIS needs you–' Tony started before he was cut off.

'McGee is a very capable senior field agent, Tony. And besides, you need me more,' Gibbs explained gruffly. 'Now, let's get your daughter away from all that syrup before she inhales it all, and get her ready for an outing to the park.'

'Park?' Tali asked, her attention diverted from the last of her pancakes upon hearing that word.

'You want to go to the park?' Gibbs asked her, crouching down to her eye. She bobbed her head up and down eagerly before a frown overshadowed her face. 'But I want to see Ima also,' Tali grumbled, torn between two choices.

'Tali, we can do both. We'll spend the morning in the park, and in the afternoon, we'll go to the hospital to see Ima, okay?' Tony reassured her. To no one's surprise, Tali had no problem with the new arrangement.

'Well, that's settled then,' Tony teased her as she slipped off her chair, her hands covered with the remnants of maple syrup. 'Why don't you go wash your grubby little hands and get ready?'

With a wicked grin, Tali raced over to him and smeared her sticky palms onto his T-shirt. 'I'm not the grubby one now, Aba. You are!' she giggled, slapping Gibbs' hand for a high five.

* * *

After getting themselves all cleaned up, the three of them emerged into a bright and sunny day, perfect for a visit to the local park. Tony had given Abby a call before they left the house, and she had assured him that she would gladly stay with Ziva until they arrived in the afternoon. After all, Jimmy had already collected the evidence from her and taken them back to NCIS, but he had no idea that Abby was staying for Ziva. He simply thought she wanted to spend a few days looking after one of the nuns she liked to go bowling with, who had fallen severely ill. His worries temporarily pacified, Tony had thanked her profusely for her help before he hung up.

Once they arrived at the kid's playground, he had Tali repeatedly promise to them that she would stay within their line of sight before letting her get on the slides. Nonetheless, Tony kept an eagle eye on his daughter as he settled down on the bench next to the see-saw. Gibbs joined him soon after and dealt him another one of his famous looks.

Tony knew, even without Gibbs asking, that he was expected to continue his story from where he had left off last night, after he unintentionally dozed off due to sheer exhaustion. 'Well, after I found Ziva at that café based on my hunch... '

* * *

 _Tony still felt like he was in a surreal dream when Ziva slipped out of the bathroom and closed the door behind her quietly, so as not to wake their slumbering daughter. He still could not quite believe that she was standing in front of him, alive and unharmed._

 _After their emotional reunion in the café, they had returned to the hotel and packed everything up yet again, but not before telling Tali that no, they were not about to go on the 'small metal thing in the sky' again. Ziva had arrived in Paris three days before them and had already secured a small apartment. They had spent the afternoon there peacefully, but Tony could only stare as he watched Ziva play with Tali. There had been no mistaking the love and adoration in her eyes, but even now, there was still something that held him back from joining them._

 _As soon as Ziva sat down on the on the couch next to him, Tony reached over and pulled her even closer to him. The questions he had could wait a while longer. All he really needed to do in this moment was dispel his fears that this was all just a vivid hallucination,_ _that he would wake up the next day with only Tali in his arms, that Ziva was still dead._

 _She seemed to sense his desperate need to make sure everything was real. Leaning over, she met his lips with her own. Their kiss was chaste yet carnal, passionate yet possessive, manifesting their deepest desire and dread in a dance for dominance. They only pulled away reluctantly when the need for oxygen became too great to ignore._

' _We have to talk about this, Tony. This… mammoth in the room, it is not good,' Ziva sighed, attempting to pull her hands out of his clasp, but he refused to let her go. Instead, Tony gave a slight grin. Of course Ziva would mess up an idiom like this when she was trying to start a serious conversation._

 _Unable to resist, he corrected her jestingly. 'Elephants, Ziva. It's elephants.' She stared at him quizzically._

' _What about elephants? If Tali wants to see an elephant, we can go to the zoo tomorrow?' Ziva suggested, confused._

' _We should talk about the elephant in the room, not the mammoth, Ziva,' Tony smiled in amusement, watching her throw her hands up in frustration._

' _I hate this language,' Ziva muttered darkly under her breath. She took a deep breath. 'It doesn't matter whether it is an elephant or mammoth, Tony. I know you have many questions for me.'_

 _Tony did not waste time, jumping straight into the most prominent issue at the front of his mind. 'Why didn't you tell me about her?' Tony asked simply, but it sounded like a plea at the same time. Ziva looked down, avoiding the hurt in his eyes. Tony gently tilted her head back up, silently encouraging her to speak._

' _I… still have some friends in America. When I found out, I wanted to tell you so badly, but one of my friends said that you had found someone, and that you were serious about her. I couldn't just disrupt your life with news like that, Tony, not when you had a real chance at happiness for yourself,' Ziva confessed wretchedly._

' _You had no right to decide whether I should know about Tali or not,' Tony told her, visibly struggling to keep his voice quiet for the sake of their daughter. Even so, frustration and a slight hint of anger was evident in his voice. 'She's my daughter too.'_

 _Ziva could not help but flinch slightly at his hostility, and Tony forced himself to calm down. There was no use getting mad at her for something she had done in the past, but he needed her to realize how much knowing his daughter meant to him._

' _I would have been here in a heartbeat if I had known you were pregnant,' Tony swore hoarsely, his tone softening._

 _Ziva nodded, gathering her composure. 'I know, and that was exactly why I couldn't tell you. From what I knew, Zoe was a lovely woman, and you truly liked her. The moment I called, you would have jumped on a plane in a heartbeat and abandoned your love life. I cannot ruin that for you just because I was selfish,' Ziva said as she tried to make Tony understand her choices, however wrong they seemed now. 'I didn't know if you would be pleased with a child.'_

' _Ziva, of course I would've been pleased. I would have been so damn ecstatic. You knew I wanted to have my own family. What made you think that I would've been unhappy about this?' Tony burst out, unable to keep his thoughts to himself._

' _Yes, I know you wanted a family, Tony, but after I chose to stay in Israel, what were we? What we had was not even a long-distance relationship; I was not your wife, or even your girlfriend! I was just someone that you spent one night with…' Ziva started, but at those words, Tony pressed his hand against her mouth, not allowing another word to escape._

' _Don't you dare say that, Ziva. You were not someone that I just wanted to spend one night with. You were… you are someone I love,' Tony told her firmly. He could see the doubt in her eyes, and he shook his head. 'I'm not finished. Yes, Zoe was my girlfriend, and I liked her well enough, but she was not you, Ziva. You - and Tali - are the only people that I truly love.'_

 _Ziva was stunned at his declaration. Yes, she knew he truly cared about her, but love? She was an ex-Mossad assassin, with more blood on her hands and more baggage on her back than he would ever know. She was damaged, and Tony could do so much better than her. As for herself, she had known for some time that she loved him, but a friend had once said that sometimes, the best thing you could do for the person you love was to set them free. She had long since resigned herself to an unrequited love._

' _But why. Why me?' Ziva breathed. In spite of the seriousness of the situation, Tony could not help but roll his eyes slightly at the cliché question that always seemed to find its way into romance movies and novels._

' _Where do I start?' Tony mused, his eyes dancing with a light-heartedness that Ziva realized she had sorely missed. 'You are this strong, amazing ex-assassin who likes to threaten people with office stationary. You can easily kick the butts of anyone who thought it'd be a good idea to irritate you. But most importantly, Ziva, you're you, and there's nothing that can top that.' He enclosed her in his arms and held on tight, secretly terrified that she would turn tail and run after he laid his heart bare._

 _In that moment, being held by him and surrounded by love was more than what Ziva could have hoped for. When she escaped to Paris, all she wanted was for Tony and Tali to find their way to Paris, and for him to learn to love his daughter. Fully relaxing in his arms, she let the pent-up feelings she had held at bay for so many years to break through, and tears trickled down her face for the second time that day._

' _I love you too, Tony,' she smiled through the waterworks. Brushing away the salty teardrops with his fingers, he leaned down and gave her a small, gentle kiss._

' _I know, sweetcheeks, and I love you too,' Tony murmured to her._

* * *

Tony's story was interrupted by his phone's loud ringtone just then, and Tony quickly picked up; only people that mattered had this phone number. As he answered whoever was on the other end of the line, Gibbs was left shaking his head at the retelling of what had happened in Paris. Those two really were like their own soap opera, with both of them - as Ziva would put it - constantly 'driving each other up the hall'. He glanced over at Tony, still smiling at the drama of it all, only to have the amusement fade away quickly when he saw the pale, stricken demeanour of his protégé's.

'What is it, DiNozzo?' Gibbs asked him urgently as soon as a trembling Tony ended the call.

'It's Ziva. Something is wrong with Ziva.'

* * *

 _A/N: So yup, another update for you all, so would you lovely readers please do me a favour and leave a short review? They really do make my day and I love hearing feedback from you all about my story so I can hopefully improve on it._

 _Zoe tabbycat_


	6. Chapter 6

Tikvah Ch. 6

Tony could feel his heart beating even more uncontrollably than before when they drove up to the hospital. Gibbs had taken the keys from Tony after the call and driven them himself, and Tony was grateful for it; he did not think that he would be able to drive safely in his current mental state.

Gibbs dropped them off at the main entrance before he parked the car, and Tony coaxed his unusually dispirited daughter into his arms without much difficulty. He had tried to keep a calm façade in front of Tali earlier at the park, not wanting to upset her unnecessarily, but he was sure that his tactic had failed. Tali, seeming to sense his distress and panic, had not uttered a single word of protest when she had been carried off the roundabout and straight into the car, which was uncharacteristic for her.

As father and daughter hurried towards Ziva's room, Tony could see Abby pacing in front of room 302, wringing her hands in an agitated manner. He clung onto her arms, desperate for answers, after letting Tali down onto a chair next to them with her stuffed dog. 'Abbs, what happened?' Tony urged, his voice raw as he fought to keep his emotions in check.

'I don't know, Tony. She was fine one moment, but the next thing I know, the machines started beeping and the doctors came in,' Abby told him in a low voice, words tumbling out of her mouth.

'What did the doctors say?' Tony prompted, dreading the worst that could happen.

'He didn't say anything,' Abby answered helplessly. 'He just told a nurse to get me out of the room and that he'll do everything possible.'

Slumping down in the chair next to Tali, Tony buried his face in his hands. His head was pounding, and he took deep breaths as he listened to the fast approaching footsteps that came to a stop in front of him. Gibbs. There was soft murmuring as Abby repeated everything she had just told him, but Tony attempted to block them out. He didn't need to hear it again.

This should not have been happening. Only a handful of people knew that she had gotten out of _that_ situation alive and that she was in DC. His mind instantly jumped to the only possible conclusion, and he shot up in his seat, eyes suddenly hardened. One - or more - of those people he had trusted must have betrayed them.

Gibbs saw the change in his demeanour and directed Tali to her new location on the lap of a now sitting Abby, hoping to keep her out of the situation for now. The little girl began tugging on her aunt's pigtails, trying to braid them together, but everyone could tell her giggles were more subdued than they usually were.

'Something you're not telling me, DiNozzo?' Gibbs questioned, even though he had a pretty good guess about the answer to that question.

Tony gave a small pause before he spoke. 'Someone is after Ziva.'

Gibbs narrowed his eyes. 'So you know who did this?' he asked incredulously, pointing towards the door of Ziva's room.

'No… yes… kind of…?' Tony grimaced in response to Gibbs' glare. 'I'm not asking for a variety of responses that can be applied in this situation. I'm asking for an answer,' he stated drily.

Tony deliberated for a while, straightening out his thoughts. 'There are only a few people that could have done this, but I have no idea which one,' Tony finally said. Right after the last syllable left his mouth, the door to Ziva's room opened and the nurses slipped out. Tony was on his feet in seconds and through the door, just in time to see the doctor pull the white latex gloves off his hands.

'What happened to her? What happened to my wife?' Tony asked anxiously. Gibbs glanced down instinctively at his left hand. For the first time, he saw the band of silver on Tony's ring finger, and berated himself for not noticing it sooner. Even though Tony hadn't mentioned he and Ziva were now married, he had to admit he was not surprised at the news, especially after listening to their story.

'She's fine now, Mr DiNardo. Her blood sugar had suddenly dropped, but she received immediate treatment after her monitors went off. There should be no lasting damage,' the doctor assured him as he looked up from the charts on his clipboard.

Gibbs stepped in, taking over the line of questioning from a highly-relieved Tony. 'Why would her blood sugar suddenly drop?' If what Tony suspected was real, surely the circumstances of Ziva's scare would be too suspicious to pass off as a fluke.

The doctor raised an eyebrow. 'Sorry, sir, but you are...?'

'Her father,' Tony interjected for Gibbs. The doctor nodded in acceptance, flipping through the pages on his clipboard. 'That's the curious thing. From what I see here, she isn't diabetic, and none of her medications had the side effect of causing one's blood sugar level to plummet the way it had.'

'Could there have been a natural reason behind this?' Tony asked, clinging onto the last thread of hope that no one had betrayed them, and that this was nothing but a freak accident.

'It's very unlikely. From her medical records, it would seem that Mrs DiNardo had been a very healthy woman, and blood sugar levels of healthy individuals would rarely drop at this rate without an external cause. Of course, it could be possible that a nurse accidentally mixed up her medication with another patient's, but that is also very unlikely,' the doctor frowned. 'In any case, I'll go check to see if anyone got Mrs DiNardo's medication.'

Tony could only nod numbly as the doctor returned the chart to the end of Ziva's bed and left. His inconclusive explanation of Ziva's condition had made real his suspicions. Someone was out to get them.

Gibbs watched as Tony struggled with his inner turmoil. Signing to Abby that she should bring Tali into the room to take care of Tony and Ziva, he left the room purposefully and headed for the nurses' station.

'I'm special agent Gibbs, from NCIS,' Gibbs identified himself to the nurse at the station, flashing his badge at her. 'I need the security tapes from this floor for the past 24 hours.'

She frowned at him disapprovingly. 'Sir, we do not normally disclose security tapes…' she began, but Gibbs cut her off abruptly.

'Someone I care about almost died in that room, and there are only two explanations. One, someone just tried to murder her under your nose. Two, someone on your team made a mistake that almost cost an innocent woman her life. Now, give me the damn tapes,' Gibbs shot her a cold stare, daring her to defy his request again. She pursed her lips, picked up the receiver, and dialled her supervisor. After hushed whispers and many sour looks on her face, she sighed and hung up.

'The tapes will be here in 10 minutes, sir,' the nurse reported in a flat tone, not even bothering to look at him as she spoke. Gibbs barely refrained from rolling his eyes, and instead nodded in thanks. He went over to a corner of the hospital that would offer him more privacy before making a call to his senior field agent.

'McGee, get your ass to DC Memorial now,' Gibbs barked into the phone, omitting all pleasantries as usual.

'Morning, boss. I thought you were taking the day off?' McGee asked, puzzled.

'I am taking the day off. Also, get me a cup of coffee on your way here,' Gibbs commanded before ending the call.

Meanwhile McGee, on the other line, was left staring at his phone in confusion. Deciding not to dwell on it, he shrugged on his jacket and started heading for the elevator in the bullpen.

'Gibbs is looking for me,' he called out to Ellie when she looked at him quizzically, unsure if he was heading for a new case and whether she should follow him or not. 'Stay here and call me if the BOLO for this guy pans out,' he told her through the ever-narrowing gap between the elevator doors, just able to catch a glimpse of her nod before the doors shut completely.

He made good time, taking a quick detour to the coffee shop that Gibbs favoured before heading towards the hospital. He was just about to call the boss to find out where he was when he spotted him, standing impatiently at the entrance with his arms crossed.

McGee quickly pulled over and parked, making sure to give Gibbs his cup of coffee and receiving a terse 'thanks' for his efforts. Looking around to make sure no one was paying them unnecessary attention, he slipped a disc into McGee's hands.

'I want a full background on everyone that goes in and out of room 302,' Gibbs instructed him quietly, and he nodded.

'What case is this footage for?' McGee wondered, his curiosity getting the best of him.

'The case of who almost killed Ziva David.'

* * *

 _A/N: A massive thank you to all of you that took the time to leave a review. They really make my day! Therefore, as usual, PLEASE review the story. :D_

 _Zoe tabbycat_


	7. Chapter 7

Tikvah Ch.7

Squinting blearily at the bright monitor of his computer, McGee typed away furiously on the keyboard as he did full background checks on everyone going in or out of Ziva's room. This was by no means an easy task, as plenty of medical personnel seemed to find it necessary to check on the supposed 'Mrs DiNardo'.

When Gibbs had revealed that Ziva was still alive, there were so many questions that popped into his mind. McGee had held back from asking in spite of his burning curiosity, knowing it was not the right time. For now, he would have to be satisfied with the knowledge that someone was after her again, and that they needed to get this guy, preferably before the individual struck again.

When his eyes could no longer bear the harsh glare of his monitor, he took a quick break and glanced over at Ellie. She too was concentrating hard on the seemingly endless background checks, and he felt a rush of gratitude to her. She had never met Ziva, and yet she was still at the bullpen at this hour of the morning, after having spent more than 12 consecutive hours here. Over the years, Ellie had heard plenty of stories about Ziva and how important she was. It was clear that she was willing to do whatever it took to help her, and consequently the team.

* * *

'Abby, what could have caused this?' Gibbs said in a hushed voice as the two of them watched Tali play quietly in a corner, her stuffed dog by her side. Tony was by Ziva's bed, her hand cradled in his as his thumb traced small circles on the back of her hand.

Abby sighed deeply. 'So many things, El Jefe. There's a whole load of medication that you can find easily in a hospital that can do this.' She waved her hands around as she tried to show the hundreds of possibilities that could have led to Ziva's current condition.

'Can you figure it out?' Gibbs asked, and Abby narrowed her eyes at the implication behind the question. 'I'm not leaving,' she protested stubbornly, her mind clouded with worry for her friend. What if Ziva took a turn for the worst while she was gone?

Gibbs placed a hand on her shoulder, seeming to sense her concerns. 'Abbs, Tony will be staying with her, and you know he won't let anything happen to her again. If you want to help Ziva, help find the son of a bitch who did this,' Gibbs told her quietly, and she nodded reluctantly at his reasonable argument.

'Right. Bad guy on the loose, need to find him. Got it,' Abby said to herself under her breath, reaching under the chair for her kit which she had stashed there yesterday. 'I guess it was a good thing that I came here to get samples originally, huh,' she muttered as she opened up her kit in search of some evidence bags. Digging them out triumphantly, she presented them to Gibbs with a flourish. With a passing nurse's help, a new IV was promptly put in place for Ziva and the old one was sealed carefully in a large evidence bag.

'Run this, Abbs. Make this a priority,' Gibbs instructed her. Nodding, she hurried out of the room.

A few minutes after Abby had left the room, Tony cleared his throat and spoke hoarsely.

'I don't trust the doctors, Gibbs.'

It was the first time he had said anything in the past couple of hours. After he had came to the conclusion that this was a planned assassination, he had only sat beside Ziva's bed, her limp hand clasped in his own as he stared at her face.

Gibbs nodded, unsurprised at this declaration. It was natural that Tony would find it hard to trust anyone he did not know after this episode. 'What do you want to do?' Gibbs asked him calmly, knowing any attempt to comfort him would not go well.

'I don't know,' Tony burst out, jumping to his feet. Tali's head snapped up at his sudden exclamation, and her eyes shone with heightened worry and fear. Tony immediately went over and kneeled down to give her a small kiss on her forehead, whispering words of reassurance and cracking inside jokes until she cheered up enough to give him a small giggle. Feeling considerably less frustrated, Tony got back up and started pacing around the room, trying to think clearly.

'Who do you trust with Ziva's health, then?' Gibbs asked when Tony's rapid pacing slowed.

'Ducky,' Tony answered without hesitation. 'But he's already busy enough as it is, Gibbs, and he doesn't exactly work with people that are still breathing.'

'Eh,' Gibbs shrugged noncommittally. 'He'll make an exception for Ziva. Stay with her, DiNozzo. I'm gonna go find Ducky and see if McGee's found the son of a bitch yet.'

* * *

The elevator doors in the bullpen opened to reveal Gibbs with his usual cup of coffee. Striding over quickly to his desk, he began to skim through the backgrounds that McGee and Ellie had found so far, but none of them hinted at anything suspicious. As far as they know, no one who was not supposed to be in Ziva's room had gone in.

Around halfway through the long list of backgrounds, Gibbs released an animalistic growl when his computer crashed yet again after opening one too many files. Glaring at the frozen screen and contemplating whether to hurl the mouse at his computer or not, Gibbs was barely aware of McGee coming over to assist him until he was right beside him.

'Fix this, McGee,' Gibbs told him irritatedly, and McGee nodded as he pulled up some sort of maintenance window on the computer. Gibbs glanced at his watch; Ducky would likely be in autopsy already. Not wanting to waste any time, he grabbed his jacket from his chair and headed for the elevator once again, all the while telling McGee that he would be back soon and that the damn computer had better be fixed by the time he got back.

Gibbs found Ducky mere minutes later in the morgue, washing his hands thoroughly after having finished performing yet another autopsy. He waited silently a few steps behind Ducky, handing him a cup of coffee once he had dried off his hands and turned around.

Ducky raised his eyebrows inquisitively in response. In all the years that he had known Gibbs, he had rarely gotten a cup of coffee from him.

'Ah, Jethro. To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?' he asked wryly as he accepted the piping hot beverage. The duo made their way across to his desk, and he barely managed to sit down before Gibbs shoved a copy of Ziva's chart across to him, the name deliberately hidden with black marker. 'I need you to take a look at this chart, and tell me whether you think the doctor's treatment is correct for this patient.'

Ducky frowned, his curiosity piqued. 'I can't give you a definitive conclusion here, Jethro. I've never seen this patient before, and it would be very irresponsible of me to just make a decision based on a few pages of notes,' Ducky said cautiously as he rifled through the charts.

'Just give me an educated assumption then, _Doctor_ Mallard,' Gibbs sighed.

'Well, I suppose from what I can see here, the treatment does make sense. This reminds me very much of the time I was in Nepal…' Ducky started to reminisce before Gibbs cut him off.

'Will any of the medication on that list cause a large decrease in blood sugar level?' He questioned. After quick deliberation, Ducky shook his head.

'Some of these may cause mild fluctuation in one's blood glucose level, but nothing that will warrant any major concern,' he explained. After a brief nod of thanks, Gibbs started to walk away, but not before being pulled back.

Ducky stared at him solemnly, his hand still on his shoulder. 'Jethro, you wouldn't just bring me a chart and question another doctor's treatment just for anyone. Tell me, who does this chart belong to?'

'Mine,' Gibbs deadpanned. Ducky chuckled and shook his head. 'My, my, Gibbs, you never told me you were in fact a woman,' he teased, pointing to the capital 'F' on the chart under the caption 'gender'.

Gibbs scrutinized him carefully. There were few people in this world whom he trusted more than Ducky, and he knew that if Ziva's doctor was to blame for this, they would need him to help them figure out how it was done.

'It's Ziva's,' Gibbs stated simply. Ducky's eyebrows shot up in surprise.

'But Gibbs, Ziva's gone. She died 4 years ago,' Ducky told him gently, as if he suspected Gibbs was having a mental breakdown. Gibbs only shook his head, a small smile on his face.

'I've just seen her, Duck, and Tony's with her. They're both in DC now,' Gibbs told him, leaving a speechless Ducky behind as he strode away. 'Oh, and no one else is to know about this,' Gibbs added, just before the doors to autopsy closed behind him.

* * *

'What have you got, Abbs?' Gibbs asked as he entered the lab, a large caf-pow in his hand. Abby looked away from her computer, and instead of answering the question, she grabbed the caf-pow from him and slurped her caffeinated juice loudly. She gave a long, satisfied sigh before setting the half-empty cup down.

'El Jefe, how do you always know when I got something and when I need more caf-pow?' Abby squealed, her ecstatic tone a huge contrast to her demeanour several hours ago. 'You know, 'cause I tried sending telepathic messages, but you're usually here before…' Abby started rambling, but Gibbs interrupted before she could get any further.

'Have you found anything?' he repeated, and Abby nodded. 'Have I ever disappointed you, Gibbs?' she retorted with a smirk. 'I swabbed the IV and ran it through the mass spec, and it lit up like a Christmas tree. I compared the medication found in the IV against the list that was in the chart, and only one of them did not belong. Can I get a drum roll?'

Gibbs stared at her, unblinking. Abby held back a sigh.

'Alright then. I found traces of insulin in the IV. Someone deliberately added insulin to her medication and caused her blood sugar to drop. This is definitely no accident,' Abby said with a grim face, jokes long gone. 'In fact, she's lucky that she got these drugs on her chart. They probably saved her life.'

'How?' Gibbs frowned.

'Well, some of the drugs can have a rare side effect of messing around with the patient's blood glucose level, so when someone is on more than one of these drugs, their blood glucose level is carefully monitored. Ziva had three of these drugs in her system, so the doctors hooked her up to this machine that monitors her glucose level twenty four-seven. If it hadn't alerted the doctors as quickly as it had…'

'She would be gone,' Gibbs finished, and Abby nodded. Ziva had escaped death enough times that it made one dread the day her luck would eventually run out.

'You have to find the person behind this, Gibbs,' Abby implored, her eyes looking beseechingly into his.

'I will, Abbs,' he promised, giving her a kiss on her temple. 'Good job.'

Just then, his phone started to ring, causing him to pull away from Abby hurriedly. He dug his phone out from the depths of his pocket before jabbing at the answer button in an impatient fashion.

'Gibbs,' he barked into his phone, as he began walking out of the lab.

'Boss, it's me,' McGee told him. 'You need to come up here. We've got something.'

* * *

 _A/N: I'm sorry that the chapter is slightly later than usual, but I've been out for dinner with a group of friends and I literally just got home. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter and as usual, PLEASE REVIEW!_

 _Zoe tabbycat_


	8. Chapter 8

Tikvah Ch.8

'According to records, her name is Emily Michels. She's 26 and born in Virginia. No history of any criminal activities, but ten grand popped up in her bank account the day before yesterday,' McGee rapidly informed Gibbs as they stood in front of the large computer screen with Emily's photo in the bullpen. 'From the security footage, we can see that she entered Ziva's room about 15 minutes before…' he trailed off. Gibbs nodded understandingly, knowing what he meant without him having to say it.

'Ellie, go pick her up and bring her in for interrogation with McGee. I'm going to go check on Tony and see if he knew who she was,' Gibbs ordered, already at the elevator doors by the time he finished speaking.

'Boss?' McGee called out, a hint of uncertainty colouring his voice. Gibbs whirled around to face him, an eyebrow raised. 'Well, what is it, McGee?' he probed impatiently.

'Just… just tell Tony that I hope Ziva gets better soon? I... I'm glad he's back,' McGee said hesitantly. Gibbs felt himself soften, and he berated himself mentally for being so insensitive about McGee's feelings in the whole situation. After all, McGee, Tony, and Ziva had been thick as thieves when they all worked here, and it was only natural that he would be worried about his friends.

'You can tell him that yourself tonight,' Gibbs said gruffly. He entered the gaping mouth of the elevator, and McGee watched as it closed behind him.

* * *

Standing with his hand on the doorknob of Ziva's room, Gibbs had to force himself to step inside. After the scare she had given them yesterday, he found himself very reluctant to head into the room, not knowing how Ziva would be. She had already looked bad enough before the incident to shake him to the core, but now? What if she looked even worse? Shaking his head, Gibbs turned the handle and pushed the door open.

He let out a small sigh of relief as he took in Ziva's small frame in the bed. She was still comatose and surrounded by snaking tubes and bleeping machines, but at least she did not look any worse. Hearing a small whine coming from the corner of the room, Gibbs turned to find a stubborn, sulking Tali seated on the chair with her father squatting in front of her. As he watched, Tony tried to coax her into eating a spoonful of neon-yellow macaroni and cheese, no doubt purchased from the hospital cafeteria.

'She's not eating?' Gibbs asked as he closed the door behind him. Tony shrugged and answered wearily, 'She keeps telling me she isn't hungry.'

Gibbs gave a nod of acknowledgement before getting straight to the point. 'You know this woman?' he asked, shoving a photo of Emily under his nose. Tony took a long look at her and shook his head. 'Doesn't seem familiar,' he said grimly, standing up. 'This the person who tried to kill Ziva?'

'Don't even think about it, DiNozzo,' Gibbs warned, pushing him down into the chair next to Tali. She chose to ignore the two of them, opting instead to hop out of her own chair and sit on the bed next to her mother.

Tony gritted his teeth, getting back up. 'She did this to Ziva! I won't let her get away with it.'

'DiNozzo, calm yourself. Getting her - that's not your job. All you have to do is focus on looking after Ziva and your little girl,' Gibbs said firmly. Tony sank back down into his seat, deflated.

'Damn good job that I'm doing,' he muttered bitterly. 'I can't even get my own daughter to eat.'

Gibbs took a long look at his former protégé, only now noticing the air of exhaustion rolling off him in waves. Stress and fear were etched in the lines that marked his forehead, and he looked more haggard than he remembered. Anyone could tell that Tony was going to crumble under the immense pressure sooner or later.

'Let me take Tali for a few days,' Gibbs offered quietly.

Tony's head snapped up in alarm. 'Boss, if someone is after Ziva, they may target Tali too,' he lowered his voice as he spoke, looking anxiously at his daughter across the room. She remained blissfully unaware of the danger of the situation, only knowing that her mother was still healing in her sleep. Even now, she was carefully balanced on the edge of the bed to avoid the machinery, whispering Hebrew into her mother's ear.

'Exactly. She'd be a lot safer at NCIS, and you need to stay here to protect Ziva. There's already been one attempt on her life; who's to say there won't be anymore?' Gibbs reasoned with him. 'Tali will be well-protected at NCIS.'

Tony was torn. On one hand, he knew better than most people how secure the NCIS building could be, and he was absolutely certain that Tali would come to no harm there. On the other hand, he desperately wanted his whole family to be together at this time of crisis. He knew this desire was irrational. Tali's safety could only be assured if he sent her away temporarily. And if Tali _had_ to leave him and his wife, there was no one he trusted more with her than his old boss and his old probie.

Tony called his daughter over to them. 'Tali, you're going to stay with Grandpa Gibbs for a few days, alright?' he asked the little girl, kissing her on the crown of her head.

'But what about you and Ima?' Tali asked petulantly. She pouted and crossed her arms, not wanting to be parted from her parents.

'I'll stay here with Ima for a few days,' Tony said, running his hand through his daughter's tangled curls in an attempt to soothe her.

Tali shook her head stubbornly. 'Then I want to stay here, too,' she insisted, her brow furrowed.

'I know, Tali, but it's not good for you to stay here for too long. There are lots of bad germs here that can make you sick, and you don't like being sick, do you?' Tony asked her gently. Tali shuddered and made a face as she recalled the horrid discomfort of chicken pox, which she had gotten just last year. Besides, staying at Grandpa Gibbs' wouldn't be that bad. Last time she was there, she had spied a huge jug of maple syrup at the very back of the refrigerator, calling out to be poured on a stack of fluffy pancakes.

'I can call you every day?' Tali asked, already imaging the sweet aroma of tomorrow's breakfast. Tony nodded, knowing she was already sold on the idea. 'You can call me whenever you want to,' he reassured her.

After a long pause to draw out the suspense, Tali answered with a nonchalant 'okay'. She flitted over to give Ziva a kiss on the cheek and granted Tony a hug before slipping her small hand into Gibbs'.

'I'm ready,' she announced brightly. Gibbs, unable to help himself, smiled at her antics.

'Be a good girl for Grandpa Gibbs, Tali,' Tony reminded as the two of them headed out the door, and he saw her nod and grin before they disappeared from his line of sight.

Walking over to the hospital bed, he sat down and took his wife's hand in his again. He smiled to hide the sadness lurking in the depths of his eyes. 'You should see her with Gibbs, Ziva. The way he's around her, no one would think that they've only known each other for a couple of days.'

* * *

Emily tilted back her chair until it was balanced precariously on two legs. She remained calm and collected in spite of her current location, directing a small, lazy smirk towards her reflection in the two-way mirror. It did not really matter if someone was watching her behind the pane of glass; but if they were indeed watching, she wanted it to be clear that _she_ was the one in control here.

The metal door to the interrogation room slammed opened with an enormous bang, startling Emily from her thoughts. Other than a slight twitch of her knee, she managed not to show any outward signs of shock at Gibbs' sudden entrance. She looked defiantly into Gibbs' eyes and her pulse quickened with excitement, her mind already debating how to spend the promised sum of money she would receive if she extracted herself from this situation unscathed. Perhaps she would treat herself with that exquisite pale cream handbag she had seen yesterday.

Gibbs' lip curled upon seeing her, and he threw her file forcefully onto the table before sitting down on the chair opposite to her. He met her smug glaze with a fierce glare of his own. Red hot anger pulsated through his veins as he thought of how she had almost taken his daughter away from him again.

His thoughts drifted to the little girl who so resembled Ziva. He had dropped her off at Abby's lab beforehand, where she had been immediately fascinated with the colourful chemicals and shiny equipment. He had never seen a more eager look on a child's face than when the bubbly forensic scientist promised Tali that they would create 'mountains of slime' together in the lab.

Gibbs imagined how the light in her bright brown eyes would dim if Michels had succeeded in her task, and how she would react once he told her she would never get to see her mother again. Channelling his fury into cold controlled precision, he leaned forward, his fingers laced together in front of him. Now was not the time to let rage drive his actions.

'Why?' His voice was deceptively soft, yet an undercurrent of coiled tension lurked beneath the surface.

'Why what?' Emily retorted, leaning back completely in her chair to show her interrogator she was not intimidated. She was aware that she was playing a dangerous game with a dangerous man, but the thrill she got from the adrenaline rush was well worth the risk.

Gibbs exploded. 'Why did you do it?' he shouted, slamming his fist onto the table.

Emily almost wanted to laugh out loud as she savoured the outrage and irritation displayed on his face. She had no idea that this would be so entertaining to watch. 'I have no idea what you're talking about, _sir_ ,' she smirked, crossing her arms in front of her.

'We have proof, Miss Michels,' Gibbs said, his face now a stony mask. He yanked out the documents from her file and spread them out across the table. Emily scanned the pages quickly, her heart skipping a beat as she recognized her name above her bank transaction records, which showed the ten-grand deposit. Her eyes darted up to meet Gibbs' as he laid down the most incriminating piece of evidence - screenshots from the security tape footage which showed a person entering and leaving Ziva's room. The face was slightly blurry from the low resolution of the camera, but if one squinted they could easily tell it was her.

'This doesn't prove anything. That person in the photo can literally be anyone,' Emily insisted. The evidence was too weak for them to charge her with this.

Gibbs smiled humourlessly and pulled out one final image from the file. He slammed it down in front of her, watching as she jumped at the sudden noise. 'Those are your prints on the IV,' he told her, jabbing at the clearly dusted print on the IV line. 'You don't work at the hospital. You don't know the victim. There is no reason you should ever come in contact with her IV. Who told you to do this?'

'What makes you think someone made me?' Emily asked him rhetorically, dropping the innocent act. She knew she had lost the game the second he showed her the picture of the print, but why the hell couldn't she have a little fun annoying him further?

'I won't ask you again. You will tell me why you did this,' Gibbs hissed at her. Emily shook her head mockingly at how predictable he was, at how easily he could be riled up. 'Is it money? Jealousy?' he pursued, looking like he was on the verge of murdering her if she refused to answer.

Emily couldn't hold back her chuckles any longer; her peals of delighted laughter echoed around the room. She knew they had very little to go on, but she could not believe how much they did not know.

'You really have no idea, do you, Agent Gibbs?' Emily smiled condescendingly across the table at room, enjoying his surprised expression. There was no way that she should have known his name. 'This goes much higher than you know.'

* * *

Growling at herself in frustration, she fed the photo of Emily Michels' beaming face to the shredder and watched with grim satisfaction as it was cut into small pieces of confetti. Hiring her had been a mistake, a rare oversight on her part. Her carefully constructed plan had fallen apart like a house of cards thanks to Michels' arrogance, and she did not take well to failure.

Taking a deep shuddering breath, she opened the window, lit a match, and dropped it into the box of the shredder. Ribbons of flame consumed the confetti, and the roaring heat devoured the remains of Emily Michels until all that was left were the ashes.

Relaxing slightly, she smiled and turned back to her paperwork, humming as she did so. After all, the loss of Michels was only a minor setback in the grand scheme of things, and the incident had served to teach her an important lesson. Never again would she entrust incapable, inexperienced imbeciles with her tasks. No, next time she would be much more careful.

Ziva David would pay for what she did.

* * *

 _A/N: Ta da, so here is another chapter for all of you to enjoy. As usual, PLEASE REVIEW! Work has been really tough lately and your reviews always help cheer me up after a long day._

 _Zoe tabbycat_


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